Both deputy city managers are resigning, soon leaving the top tier of administrative leadership under City Manager Mark Scott vacant.

The resignation of Deputy City Manager Nita McKay, whose position focused on finances, was effective Thursday. Her resignation letter doesn’t say why, and Scott said he didn’t want to characterize her thought process.

Deputy City Manager Bill Manis, who was in charge of economic development, leaves April 14 to become city manager of Rosemead, a 53,000-person city in Los Angeles County.

The two deputies will be replaced with one assistant city manager, Scott said Friday.

The departures enable Scott to shape the city where he took the top unelected position in February, according to Monica Lagos, the city’s communications manager.

“It means Mr. Scott has an opportunity to fill positions and restructure or be able to implement the structure he would like to see,” Lagos said. “He has so much experience that I have all the faith in the world that he will structure his team in an effective way.”

Filling positions across the city and stabilizing the workforce is a top priority for Scott, Lagos said.

For his part, Manis said he would miss San Bernardino and wished the city continued success, echoing his resignation letter.

The letter, dated March 18, painted a picture of progress in the city.

“I leave feeling confident that I contributed to the mission of moving San Bernardino forward during my tenure,” Manis wrote, before listing nine examples of that. “As you have seen, we have some significant contributors on the City team. I have enjoyed working alongside our dedicated team and wish everyone continued success as exiting bankruptcy is now in the horizon.”

The city’s consultants, Management Partners, have told the city turnover is a major challenge they must overcome. Last year, Management Partners regional vice president Andrew S. Belknap told city officials that a 24 percent turnover for executives since 2004 could be attributed largely to the city charter.

Mayor Carey Davis, who also pledged to focus on reducing turnover when he ran for mayor in 2014, said he didn’t think these departures were an example of that.

“As you know, deputy city manager was a new position, so clearly that’s not something that I think falls into that arena of that revolving door,” Davis said.

Then-City Manager Allen Parker created the two deputy city manager positions in the budget for the 2014-15 year, and Manis and McKay joined the city in fall 2014.

Before that, the city instead had an assistant city manager position, which is what the city charter calls for. However, that position had been vacant since 2012, around the time of the city’s bankruptcy filing.

The highlights Manis listed in his letter include a drop in the unemployment rate from 10.2 percent to 7.3 percent, a 7.8 percent increase in point-of-sale business base (597 new companies), and an annual sales tax increase of 5.9 percent (to $28.6 million).

Davis said he couldn’t remember exactly when he learned of the two administrators’ resignations and that the reasons for them were presumably communicated to the city manager.

He said he wished both McKay and Manis well.

“It certainly means a directional change and it will require some careful consideration on our new city manager’s part to carefully make whatever decisions he’s going to regarding the organizational structure and how it needs to unfold,” Davis said. “I’m confident in his experience in being able to deal with this effectively and without it creating undue hardship on the city.”

McKay did not return a phone call for comment.

Her resignation letter, dated March 24, is four sentences long and refers to an earlier conversation with Scott in which she said her last day would be March 31.

“I have enjoyed the opportunity of working with the bankruptcy team and the City Council in moving the city forward in a positive manner,” McKay wrote. “Please let me know how I can assist in making the transition go smoothly.”

Ryan Hagen covers the city of Riverside for the Southern California Newspaper Group. Since he began covering Inland Empire governments in 2010, he's written about a city entering bankruptcy and exiting bankruptcy; politicians being elected, recalled and arrested; crime; a terrorist attack; fires; ICE; fights to end homelessness; fights over the location of speed bumps; and people's best and worst moments. His greatest accomplishment is breaking a coffee addiction. His greatest regret is any moment without coffee.

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